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GeorpwawnActon Nov 24 TELEPHONE 5191 Ken Bellamy Publisher twMtrolndPnMinoPiAtNllnoLWMl8vVaoiiiSliMt Don Ryder Director of Advertising Hartley Coles Managing Editor The Aran the MetrolanrJ Lid 4jt AdWhttbfPidwnng News Aurora Banna The Bolton Entarpnae Brampton Guarolan The Pou The Weekend Pan The Etobcofce The George town Independent MerUttrnThamhel Econonw and Sun Th The New Weekend Edrun The North York Mirror Beaver Oafcvtie Beaver Oinawa Wart Weekend The Richmond Tha Scarborough The Woodtrndoe Vaughen New of nr if ac paid to at Member of Canadian Commumtv Association and The Communrlv Allocation Second data reoatration Number EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT EaMenGordMunay New Helen Murray Dan McGSoomv Nancy ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Cook Retail Manege Seles AdWenbtngCarorvn BUSINESSACCOUNTING r Jean Shewes CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Ma Must turn the Y around Every taxpayer has a stake in keeping the Acton alive and financially healthy Efforts by a handful of Y loyalists are underway to give the grand old building on Mill St a fresh face and save it from deterioration However more volunteers are needed to help with the work More importantly funds are needed to not only finance physical improvements to the building but also to pay for pro gram additions and expan sions The Acton has a long pro ud history of community ser vice It is a unique service in that it has always been run pretty much by volunteers and paid for solely through dona tions and fund raising ventures In the past the was the thing to belong to there really wasnt much else in Acton in the way of community recrea tion services outside of minor sports and besides the church there werent a lot of commun ity organizations to belong to As the town has grown community organizations have flourished draining away much needed volunteers At the same time government funds have been poured into municipal recreation programs and new community groups have helped slice up the local donations pie into smaller pieces Y board members have issued a dire warning if there isnt financial aid and volun teers to help with programs and maintain the building it will ultimately fall into disuse Even if you never avail your self of the wide variety of leisure time activities offered by the Y or programs offered by other organizations like Hal- ton Hills recreation depart ment you have a vested in terest in keeping the going This year the Acton will have provided programs for about 360 people There are very few areas of duplication between and municipal or other recreation programs If the Y was to disappear there would be a leisure time activity void in the community which would need to be filled for a large number of citizens and if the past is any example government would have to step in and fill the gap Halton Hills having to pro vide programs now offered by the would add to already hef ty recreation costs Likely more staff would be needed in the recreation department to administer programs other costs would also mount Addi tional costs would have to be paid either through higher tax es or less likely with steeply in creased userpay fees right across the board It has been- proven time and again volunteers and com munity organizations can run things for less money and more efficiently than any govern ment All recreation and communi ty minded people should be climbing on the bandwagon now to turn things around for the Y The has filled an important role in Actons past and has an important role to fill in the future GM This is the time to build Theres been a lot of criticism and even snide remarks or snickers about Halton Hills and the Acton Business Improve ment Area BIA buying two homes on Church St for new off street parking People think its a little ludicrous for the two bodies to be spending money on improv ing parking when so many stores have closed up down town However what people dont seem to consider is that for years parking downtown has been a problem shoppers have been saying they dont shop locally because they cant get parked This present recession which has ravaged downtown wont last forever likely in a few years downtown will be filled with new shops in now vacant stores more property could even be converted to commer cial uses in the years ahead But when good times return they wont be as healthy for downtown Acton if the parking problems havent been solved In fact if there is to be more parking downtown this is the perfect time to do it and not just because provincial loan money is available now at a cheap interest rate Had the BIA and Town not taken advantage of the government loan program now the funds would have been spent some where else in Ontario and might not have been available for Acton in the future And with land construction and material prices currently soft because of the recession pro viding more parking downtown Acton is a bargain now com pared to what it would cost when the economy recovers MEW in From the editor s desl Eight hours of prime television viewing by Cord Murray Free Press Editor If you happened to miss the three part miniseries on television last week The Blue end the Gray you missed eight of the best hours of TV yet Well actually there was less than eight hours of good TV when you sub tract the commercials but then the IBM and Polaroid commercials were better than most too If you didnt see the film briefly It was about two related families one in Pennsylvania and one in Virginia who were on the opposite sides of the war between the States in the 1860s It covered how they personally handled the tragedy of Americas bloodiest conflict more Americans were killed In the Civil War than In World Wars I and II combined I dont think Ive ever seen a film with the possible exception of Apocalypse Now which chilled me to the bone with the horror of war quite like the Blue and the Gray There was really considering It was a war movie Very little outright violence Not often did you see except in battle charges people being killed And when men were being shot it was just a quick glimpse of someone falling with smoke swirling everywhere But the horror of war came through loud and clear It was the after battle scenes which stuck so graphically and terrifyingly In the memory Fields littered with corpses Dead dead everywhere For me this film brought back a flood of memories albeit quite vague My father was a Civil War buff I guess it should be Is Civil War buff I havent talked to him about it for quite a while but I imagine he still has a keen Interest In this and the other wars When I was little a number of our family vacations were taken up with travelling around visiting Civil War battlefields and other historic spots connected with this famed conflict I calculate I must have been 7 and when we were taking these trips I rememberfailting four hours outside a church In Gettysburg for then president Elsenhower and his wife to come out before returning to their huge farm nearby Since he left office in early 1961 and Im now 31 votla I must have been a or when we were In Gettysburg I cant for the life of me remember If we saw the President something tells me he wasnt at church that morning wasnt even in Gettys burg Anyway watching the Blue and the Gray I kept thinking back to those trips and wondering if I had been to the battlefield where the war was being re- enacted on film Being so young a lot of what we went and saw was over my head and besides at that age if youve seen one battlefield youve seen them all I knew with certainty Id been to Gettysburg I know Ive seen the spot where Abraham Lincoln read his famous speech Seems to me I was in Richmond capital of the Confederacy too I became ill there and had to spend a few days In bed In a rather unique motel each unit was like a little brick cabin I know my untimely Illness put a damper on Dada tour plans But after that about all I can remember is going place to place and seeing a whole lot of cannons with little plies of cannon balls beside them Checking with my mother I learned Ive been to the site of the battle of Bull Run tattle of the Wilderness Courthouse where Lee surrendered to Grant Atlanta which was burned and other historic sites in Georgia which Sherman marched through Fredericksburg some place called Chancellorsburg in Ten nessee and Stoney Mountain in the same state Thats lust to name a few of the Civil War spots we went to that she could remember Joan says I was also In VIcksburg a major scene In the Blue and Gray but since they went to when I was l or she agreed there was no way Id have a memory of that even vague Of course on one of these grips we visited Washington There must have been three or four Civil War tours before the Murray turned their at tentions to retracing the Revolutionary War I remember a lot about visit to places like Boston Lexington and Concord Philadelphia etc Im sure when and if he reads this my father will be disappointed to that during these trips the Civil War history didnt exactly sink In for all time However hell be pleased to learn that a pleasant trip a year ago last month and seeing the Blue and Gray has kindled interest In me to go and see all those places I failed to absorb my first trip Like the rest of the Civil War tours our visit to Washington was quite vague though little clearer than most of my memories Last year on an eagerly awaited vacation visited Washington for four days all by my lonesome and as in teresting a four days I cant recall I had a ball I went through four Smithsonian museums aircraft and space American history natural history and art to the Ford theatre where Lincoln was shot and the house across the street where he died to the Washington Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials to the Capital building FBI headquarters the Washington Masonic memorial In Alexandria saw the King of Spain welcomed on the White House lawn viewed the Kennedy graves and Lees home in Arlington cemetery and visited lots of other attractions Now I think Ill plan a motor rip by myself to Gettysburg for sure and then stop to see a few things I missed in Washington before moving on to the Civil War battlefields in Virginia the Carolinas and Georgia Better late than never eh Pop a- Homes are demolished but memories linger When wreckers demolished two bou ses on Church recently to make way for a new downtown parking lot thfey unwittingly took a reminder of a Acton history down with them Several people mentioned it to me among them solicitor Ron Henry who noted the house at the corner of Church and Wil low was the home of one of the best hockey players who ever donned the livery of the Acton Tanners and a well known character around Acton focj decades The other home although moat people are probably no aware once a bakery where they produced bread that made today products look and taste starchy According to Actons Early Days the latter home butt early In Actons history and was the residence of a Mirbnachl New George Walters before the in and established a bakery They lived there for over a quarter of a century Mr SUtham a veteran of the American CtvU War and Ms bakery later taken over by daughter Mm George later annoy Mr the pucks and Arthur roedhocfc boy to see the bakery rig delivering bread and pastries to homes pulled by a willing horse who caught some shuteye at every stop Vic Alger was a popular driver Just about everything was del ivered by horse and cart in those days including milk ice groceries and coal for the stove or furnace In winter when the carts switched to sleighs it was a Saturday afternoon thrill to ride the bobs behind Casey Jones team of white horses from the coal yards at the station or Mackenzie Casey Jones lived with his family and team In a cottage at the comer of Church and Elgin Streets There was a barn on for the horses now occupied by The Bell Telephone We got covered with coal dust some times on those free lifts on the coal wagon and had to face the wrath of mothers when we arrived home There was also another byproduct from those roads where the dumped buns they the pucks moat of ua could for hockey which as today was a Daag Keener as seen by J K Gardiner fat the pages of The Free Press fa But Im wandering The other bouse where the Kentner family lived far years was on the comer of Church and and the borne of Jack Dang Kentner whose hockey exploits are still discussed In sports circles The Kentner family moved to Acton from Milton pri marily to play hockey There were sev eral boys including Joe Fred Jack and Clarence all of whom wore the livery of the Tanners when they were the scourge of the Ontario Hockey Assoc iation Intermediate B series They were all good players but Dang with his size ability and robust constitution was picked by professional scouts as a pot ential star Fresh from the rinks of Milton he was first spotted by the semi- professional Western Ontario League where he lined up with the Windsor club the first year and also played with other teams in the league My informant says he was ticketed for the NHL and despatched to play for the Quebec Aces which were part of the Montreal Maroon farm system Dang made the journey to Quebec rated because Just spoke French that he packed his bags and went home When the closed arena was first opened to December of IMS on natural ice Jack Kentner was with the pros He came back to Acton but it was he was allowed to play amateur hockey again He played for the Tan ners for five years until the club won the championship in beating Woodstock Red Devils in the finals When World War 2 broke out the vil lage closed the old Acton arena and used it for a wool warehouse Hockey died in Acton until after the shooting And Jack Kentner came back to play during the playoffs He was a familiar sight on defence his Jaws chomping gum a red baseball hat on one side of his head and his head turned to one side He was so slick with the puck It looked like it was to his stick My memories go back to the playoff series in the when Dang rejoined the team and teamed up with Marzo and the late Dude Lindsay in a play off game against the defending champion Preston club I was in the press box for that game played In the new Waterloo arena where they had artificial ice There also with the usual collection of scribes was a sports writer from the Kitchener- Waterloo Record Asked why be was there be replied To sea Jack Kentner play He said be hadnt seen Kentner play since Iris pro days but the stories about his ability on a page 10 years ago November Basic new telephone rates In tite Ac ton exchange would go up five cents a month In 1973 and cents a month In 1974 if the Canadian Transport Com mission approves increases ask by Bell Canada Council has given the town of Milton a flat No In answer to a request that they consider the use of a pit at Milton Brick as a sanitary landfill site for Milton garbage Mr and Mrs Mathews Mrs McCutcheon and Mrs A Robinson have returned from a trip to the West Coast and California of several weeks Miss Dorothy Simmons from Acton WI and Mrs M Nell is and Mrs W Lasby from Dublin Wl attended the Area Convention at Stratford recently Mr and Mrs Elliott were both In General Hospital at the same time with rooms near each other Mrs Elliott is home now and Mr Elliott expects to be back soon 20 years ago November 1662 Petitions signed by Acton business men were presented to council Tuesday evening in oh attempt to establish a by law for store closing hours The present bylaw is stores closed on Wednesday afternoons and the merchants have adapted an all day closing Monday Fire completely destroyed barn and pigs of R 3 Acton on Wednesday morning Construction of the new Christian Reformed Church auditorium has begun Van Burg Construction Georgetown began work at Ihe site Bruce Andrews Is home from Hall South Orange New Jersey for the American Thanksgiving holiday The Breezes has been sold to Mr and Mrs Wood of Toronto who are living there now They intend to open It as a park as Joe Jocque did Provincial Constable and Mrs Archie MacPhcrson and sons of St Thomas were recent visitors with formers parents Mr and Mrs AM Mac- Arthur Street Acton 50 years ago Novembern Mr John Marshall Clerk of Nas- Township who was injured by a fall a week or so ago Is gradually improving Miss Ruth Gibson of Acton assisted the choir of the Grand Valley Church on their anniversary occasion last week On Thursday evening the family of Mrs Arch gathered at the home of her daughter Mrs Sy- where the eightieth birthday of the mother wos observed Mr and Mrs John Kennedy and children of Detroit Mich arc visiting at home of his parents Mr and Mrs Kennedy Mr and Mrs RH Elliott and family moved from Comber last week and are now getting comfortably settled in their new residence on Church Street Miss Frances Hurst of Metcalfe Ontario spent the weekend at her home here 75 years ago Contractor Forbes Is finishing the foundation Mr P Buyers new res idence on Church Street The section above the ground line is being built of cut stone Mr WJ Gould who has been man ager of the Acton House for nearly two years has resigned and Mr Smith has assumed the position Brick work on the home of Mr John Cameron on Main Street is nearing completion Dr Ault has taken the office In the Perryman Block lately occupied by Dr where he may be called during the day The repairs and improvements to St Albans Church are nearing com pletion Everything will be in good shape for reopening on December 1st 100 years ago November Theres a good assortment of skates forsaleatJC cents to Fresh Oysters by the quart constant ly on hand at the Excelsior Bakery Acton The Sabbath School at Corners has closed for the winter sea son Mr Bennett of Intends start ing a large hog breeding establishment near Winnipeg Dr M has disposed of his drug store business to Mr J McGar- and Is about to remove to Palmer- Messrs Storey and James Moore left on Monday for GloversvUle on a business trip